About one-third of New Jersey adults have used marijuana or other cannabis products since recreational weed was legalized in the state a year ago, according to a new Stockton University Poll released today.

The poll of 660 adult New Jersey residents found that nearly 47% of cannabis users consumed it for recreational purposes and 39% did so for both recreational and medical purposes.

Only 13% used it strictly for medicinal purposes, according to the poll conducted by the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University.

A majority (69%) of users bought products from a licensed cannabis dispensary but approximately 30% purchased marijuana from nonlicensed dealers, with 18% of those saying they did so because prices or taxes charged at dispensaries were too high.

The main reason cited for buying marijuana on the street was that no legal dispensary operated nearby.

In April 2021, the Lakewood Township Committee voted unanimously to ban recreational weed businesses in town.

The state referendum approving the use of recreational marijuana in the state passed overwhelmingly in November 2020, but lost badly in Lakewood, where 69% of voters opposed it.

Lakewood was one of only three municipalities in the state to reject the referendum, but sales are also banned in most towns throughout Ocean County.

Levels of support for or opposition to dispensaries operating in respondents’ towns changed little in the year since legalization, the poll found.

A slim majority of 53% supported dispensaries selling recreational weed where they live, down slightly from 56% in an April 2022 Stockton Poll asking the same question.

39% of respondents said they opposed local dispensaries in the latest poll, up from 36% a year ago.

The poll also found that Democrats (38%) were more likely to consume cannabis than Republicans (24%) or independents (32%).

The poll’s margin of error is +/- 3.8 percentage points.